Landlord wins reprieve from huge RRO claiming ‘technical issues’ at council website

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A disgruntled landlord has convinced a judge to have his rent repayment order case re-heard after arguing that council systems hindered his ability to apply for an HMO licence during the pandemic.

Paul Fashade was told to pay three tenants a total of £11,230 by a First Tier Property Tribunal (FTT) which ruled he had no excuse for renting out an unlicensed HMO in Devonshire Road, Lewisham, between August 2020 and January 2022.

Fashade argued that the original ruling was unfair because he couldn’t renew his expired licence due to technical issues with Lewisham Council’s online systems.

He claimed that emails and phone calls from both him and his managing agent had gone unanswered, and believed receiving automated responses meant that they would eventually contact him.

Efforts

At an Upper Tribunal, the judge said the FTT had taken no account of Fashade’s or the managing agent’s efforts because he was unable to provide copies of his emails, and then awarded the maximum amount possible.

In relation to the RRO amounts, the judge said: “The FTT might have considered that a landlord who made repeated but unsuccessful attempts to obtain a licence, both by his own efforts and by instructing his agent, was less culpable than a landlord who ignored his obligations and wilfully failed to obtain a licence.”

The judge recommended that the RRO awarded to two of his tenants should be reduced because the licence application had already been made before the end of their tenancy. He remitted a decision on the RROs to another property tribunal.

Tough defence

JMW property lawyer David Smith says: “You have to show you’ve tried to apply again and again throughout the whole period, by every means possible, using every portal and by filling in forms, and to keep documenting that.

“The offence is operating without a licence – it’s up to you to prove you have a reasonable excuse and it’s a tough defence.”

Read more stories about RROs.

View Full Article: Landlord wins reprieve from huge RRO claiming ‘technical issues’ at council website

Has the “fairer private rented sector” really been fair to landlords?

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The Government boasted a “fairer private rented sector” but has it really been fair to landlords? For many landlords, it’s hard not to panic. With the overhaul of the rental rules this year, indefinite tenancies plus not to mention the end of section 21 evictions

View Full Article: Has the “fairer private rented sector” really been fair to landlords?

NEW: Unions and campaigners call on Michael Gove to ‘freeze’ rents

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Council leaders, unions and renters’ groups have urged Housing Secretary Michael Gove to bring in an immediate rent freeze in a bid to prevent widespread homelessness.

In an open letter, the 34 groups and individuals – including London Renters Union, mayor of London Sadiq Khan, RMT general secretary Mick Lynch, and Generation Rent – also called on him to implement a ban on evictions until the cost-of-living crisis is over and to fast track the much-delayed Renters Reform Bill, ending Section 21 evictions.

This would bring England in line with Scotland, which imposed a rent freeze and eviction ban last October.

They claim that landlords, with the encouragement of letting agents, are using the crisis as an opportunity to introduce rent hikes.

Struggling

The letter says: “Some landlords will be struggling with increased mortgage costs, but many will not. Just under half of rental properties have a mortgage and most of those have ‘interest only’ mortgages.

“The vast majority of landlords have far greater financial resilience to weather the storm ahead, with the median annual income of landlords before their income from rent is taken into account at £55,415.”

London Renters Union is asking renters to ramp up the pressure by writing a letter to their MP backing the call as part of its #rentfreezenow campaign.

Sadiq Khan and council leaders in Bristol have been calling on Westminster to grant them powers to set rent controls in their own areas.

However, this is unlikely as only last week, housing minister Felicity Buchan told the Commons: “The government do not support the introduction of rent controls in the private rental sector.”

She said controls would “discourage investment, lead to declining property standards and may encourage illegal subletting”.

View Full Article: NEW: Unions and campaigners call on Michael Gove to ‘freeze’ rents

Auditor says Selective Licensing DOES push up rents and cause homelessness

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A council’s Selective Licensing scheme has been slammed by an external auditor – just as the council unveils a consultation process to start a new scheme in August – with critics saying the scheme has led to tenants being made homeless but the council says it doesn’t have data on the issue.

View Full Article: Auditor says Selective Licensing DOES push up rents and cause homelessness

Service charge demands but no explanations?

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Hello, I hope someone can give an opinion. A long story short.

We own 2 leasehold apartments within a 56 block.

Up until now the managing agent serves service charge (SC) demands and we just pay them.

View Full Article: Service charge demands but no explanations?

Existing outdoor stairs, very steep – access?

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Hello, We own a mansion block of flats made up of Ground Floor, First Floor and Second Floor flat.

The GF flat currently has access to the garden.

There are stairs from the FF to the garden

View Full Article: Existing outdoor stairs, very steep – access?

York landlord group says ‘collaboration not conflict way forward on HMO licencing’

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York’s Residential Landlords Association (York RLA) wants to clarify why it decided not to proceed with further legal action over the city council’s proposals to bring in an Additional Licencing scheme for HMOs.

Both local media and LandlordZONE recently reported that it had decided not to proceed towards a Judicial Review of the council’s HMO decision process.

Supported by property lawyer David Smith, it had hoped to shine a light on the council’s attempts to bring in Additional Licencing.

The York RLA’s Chair, Andy Simpson (main picture, inset), says he doesn’t want local landlords to be misled and that his organisation “weighed up our options at each stage of the legal process and made calculated decisions based on where our time and resources are best spent”, he says.

“At the relevant milestone we did elect not to take the Additional Licensing decision towards a judicial review since City of York Council could still implement the scheme if it had lost.

Open mind

“However, we have kept an open mind on whether we need further support from David Smith as the scheme unfolds and develops. It might be that policy aspects or specific licensing decisions need a closer look in future.”

Simpson says there has always been a ‘feisty’ relationship between landlords and the council in York and that rather than fight the scheme any further, look at whether there was an opportunity to change the culture and make the scheme work for both landlords, tenants, and the council.

Also, he says most of the technical points David Smith raised during the consultations were taken on board and talks since have been positive.

The York RLA says both it and York council have mutual aims, including:

• Quality accommodation in York
• Fair regulation for good landlords
• A good working relationship between landlords and council

“We see our role as protecting the interests of the good landlords by ensuring the scheme is fair and focusing on helping landlords successfully obtain a license,” adds Simpson, who says communications between the York RLA and council officials has already improved.

“We don’t support licensing as an approach specifically. An accreditation scheme was our preference, but they are very difficult to fund, and landlords would only want to be regulated by one scheme, so we are looking to make this work.

“This more collaborative approach might be ambitious considering the reputation that property licensing schemes have around the country but in my view landlords and local authorities are caught up in an ongoing cycle of conflict and something needs to change as other approaches aren’t working.”

Read advice about licencing.

View Full Article: York landlord group says ‘collaboration not conflict way forward on HMO licencing’

Capital allowances enable commercial property buyers to claim cash back from HMRC

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A capital allowance claim is a way to offset the cost of certain assets in your property against your taxable profits.

In the case study below the purchasers were able to claim £23,950 cash back from HMRC based on unclaimed capital allowances of £66,300 for the following:-

• Electrical Systems
• Plumbing Systems
• Sanitary Systems
• Telecommunications and Fitted Furnishings

Capital allowances are not only claimable by big businesses.

View Full Article: Capital allowances enable commercial property buyers to claim cash back from HMRC